$5 Custom Halloween Pillows with Chalk Paint

A couple weeks ago, I loaded up my shopping cart with a several Halloween pillows, and before I knew it, my total was in excess of my monthly food budget. So, back on the shelf the pillows went, and I hatched a plan.

As luck should have it, an IKEA recently opened up in Las Vegas! Yay! IKEA happens to have the most affordable pillow covers on the planet (less than $5 for an 20” square!)—perfect for my budget, and perfect for holiday customization.

For your own custom Halloween pillows, you will need:

• “Gurli” pillow cover from IKEA
• Flat latex or acrylic paint in your favorite colors (I used white and black)
• BB Frösch Chalk Paint Powder
• Dense Foam Roller
• Paper towels
• Store-bought stencils (or create your own, like I did)
• Piece of cardboard cut to about 12” square

STEP 1. Mix your paint into chalk paint.

Chalk paint for this project is the way to go because your paint won’t crack or feel like a layer of plastic, and you won’t need to add any fabric medium. As an added bonus, when you make your own chalk paint with BB Frösch, you can choose colors to match your decor. Click here for a quick mixing tutorial.

STEP 2. I created my own stencils with my Silhouette Cameo, but I forgot to take a picture of the actual stencils!

STEP 3. Before painting your pillow, place a piece of cardboard inside, so your paint doesn’t bleed through.

STEP 4. Squeeze a small amount of mixed chalk paint onto a foam tray or plastic plate.

STEP 5. Roll your foam roller through the paint.

STEP 6. Important! After rolling the roller through paint, roll it onto a paper towel. This will ensure your roller doesn’t have too much paint on it, and will help keep paint from bleeding under the stencil.

STEP 7. Make sure your stencil is placed on your pillow where you want it, and start rolling in all directions until you have the coverage you want.

NOTE: The above photo is the reverse part of the stencil I made for the rat pillow (since I forgot to photograph actually stenciling the pillow the first time around…)

In about two minutes, you have a new custom pillow!

I made several designs since each pillow cover was only $5.

I also painted a design on the back to maximize my halloween pillow dollars.

Blaire loves the new pillows! I told her to say “BOO!” for the photo, but she though I meant “Peek-a-boo!”

Happy Halloween!

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You can also sign up for a BB Frösch Workshop here!